Automatic shear gauge for cambered strip



Oct. 6, 1936. E. B. HUDSON I 2,056,194

AUTOMATIC SHEAR GAUGE FOR CAMBERED STRIP Filed April 11, 1935 2Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR ATTORNEYS Oct. 6, 1936. E. B HUDSON AUTOMATICSHEAR GAUGE FOR CAMBERED STRiP Filed April 11, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 N\GE Q A Q U Q RM R W Q H 2 INVENTOR $2.... KMW

ATTORNEY-3,

Q Fig. 2 is a perspective view or 45 of the two strips both in the samedirection,

Patented st. 6, 1936? an'rom'rro snnaa GAUGE roa onann s'rarcApplication April 11, 1935, Serial No. 15,838

M Claims. (on. 1641-59)- My invention relates to cutting metal sheets orstrips, and to gauges employed. in connection with such operations; andmore especially to gauges acting at a longitudinal edge of a sheetor'strip to effect a desired relation of an end portion of the sheet orstrip to a means which trims an end of the sheet or strip. My inventionis' particularly related to those operations in which hot rolled sheetsor strips are to be welded together end to end, preparatory to coldrolling "of the greater length of metal thus afforded. This uniting of anumber of strips or sheets in a much longer unit is of advantage inproviding longer coils for a single stand cold reduction mill; also, inthis way. it is possible to provide a single band of metal runningthrough a series of cold mills arranged in tandem.

In order to form a proper supply of metal for the mill or mills, it isnecessary forthe indi--, vidual strips to be welded-together in properrelation to the camber therein, if any, andit is a fundamental object ofmy invention to provide a shearing device for cutting the ends of thestrips in such a way that such welds may be 5- made. The reasons forthis will becomeapparent as the description proceeds; and the objectsmentioned, and other objects of my invention which will be set forthhereinafter or will be apparent to one skilled in the art upon readingthese specifications, I accomplish by that certain construction andarrangement of .parts of which l shall now describe a preferred emto theaccom bodiment, reference being had panying drawings in which: 7 I

Figure l is a diagram illustrating, with exagxgerated dimension, theprinciple upon which my invention is based.

a portion of a w stil without camber. Fig. 3 is a similar view of aportion of a strip with camber, the uneven thickness and the cam- -.berof the strip being greatly exaggerated.

Fig. 4 illustrates the proper Junction of two jcamb'ered strips end toend with the cambers the cambers being greatly exaggerated.

Fig. 5 is a similar view illustrating an improper iunction of twocambered strips with the icambers or strips both in the same direction.

Fig.6 is -a view similar to Fig. 4, showing a proper junction ofcambered strips where one strip has its camber in direction opposite tothat.

of the other. Fig. '7 is a similar view illustrating an improperjunction of cambered strips with their cambers related as in Fig. 6.

, Fig. 8 is a plan view of one side portion of a shearing machine andits table, with my invention applied thereto.

Fig. 9 is a sectional side elevation of the same, the section beinglongitudinal through the inner side of the casingof my invention on theline 9-9 of Fig. 8, and through the shear knives and bed, and indicatingthe top surfaces of the tables by a broken line.

Fig. 10 shows in fragment the electric connection with one of thecontact fingers.

Fig. 11 is a horizontal cross section of the same on the line iili ofFig. 10.

Fig. 12 is a diagram showing the electrical system comprised in myinvention.

In the hot rolling of strip metal, the theoretical condition exemplifiedin-Fig. 2 is not consistently attained. Here the strip i has parallelside edges 2' and '3, and parallel face portions, as shown in section at4'. 0n the contrary, due to a number of causes which it is not necessaryto outline here, these causes being well known, hot rolled strip issubject to camber, at least at intervals. Such a condition isexaggerated in Fig. 3, where, as shown in the section at 4, the faces ofthe sheet are not parallel, but converge toward one edge.

This is indicative of a condition in which one edge of the strip, theedge 2 in the illustration, is being rolled. somewhat thinner than theedge 3, and therefore is being elongated by a greater amount.

a The thinner edge 2 therefore becomes'the longer edge, and the strip isgiven a curvature. The con ditions producing camber are more or lesssporadic, and cambered portions in the strip therefore occur withirregularity, and the curvature produced thereby will be irregular andwill not always be in the same direction. Ordinarilyhot rolled strip,although cambered, has substantially a uniform weight per lineal lengthunit, and when further reducedin gauge by subsequent rolling operations,and when given a uniform cross section as illustrated in Fig. 2, willstraighten out and loose its camber. Dimculties are met, however, whenattempts are made to weld the cambered pieces end to end to make alength or a continuous supply of metal, say, for tension cold rollingoperations. Here, if the camber is to straighten out as indicated, theconditions in the welded piece must approximate .the conditions in asingle cambered strip from the hot mills. Ithas been found thattheseconditions are met if cambered pieces can be sheared radially of thecamber therein at the point of shearing, and butt welds made in i stripsthus sheared. When cambered pieces are sheared radially and welded, itmakes no difference whether the camber in the strips is in the samedirection on each side of the line of weld. Figs. 4 and 6 show, withconsiderable exaggeration, properly sheared and welded cambered strip,Figure 4 indicating the proper condition when the cambers in the twostrips happen to be in the same direction, and Fig. 6 indicating theproper condition when the cambers are in opposite directions. The linesof proper shearing l and 2" coincide in these instances.

Figs. and 7 illustrate corresponding improper conditions upon anexaggerated scale. Here the lines of cut and weld are represented by thedotted lines 6. Lines of cut radially of the cambers are againrepresented by the lines i" and 2", and it will be noticed that therelies between these lines of proper cut, a triangular area of metal 5,which is excess metal in the sense that it is metal which would not bethere in a cambered strip which had not been cut or welded. Thistriangular area of excess metal will prevent the strips straighteningout and loosing their camber under subsequent rolling conditions. Thestrips joined together are indicated in Figs. 4 to 'l, inclusive, at Xand Y.

It follows that if cambered strips are sheared radially of the curvatureof the camber therein,

and are welded together, a proper supply of metal will be produced. Itis very diflicult, however, to gauge by eye the curvature of the camberand. to make a radial cut, and it is impracticable in production work touse measuring devices for this purpose. v

My invention is adapted to provide a means for quickly and accuratelydetermining a direction-of out which will be accurately radial to anydegree of camber there may be in the strip.

In my invention, I provide a gauge which contacts either edge of thestrip I at a plurality of spaced locations, and provides for bringingthe contacting portions of the gauge into correct relation to each otherand to the sheet, automatically incident to pressure of the sheetedgewise against the contacting portions, such that the end portion ofthe strip which is to be sheared will have the shear bladesapproximately radial to the curve of its edges, whatever be the degreeof the curvature.

The mathematical principle of my invention is illustrated in Figure 1.Points A, B, and C represent three points along a curve ABC, which maybe either the edge 2 or the edge 3 of a cambered sheet or strip. PointC, therefore, is twice as far from point A, as is point B, as designatedbetween the radii from point 0; A00 being the angle A, and AOB and 300each being the angle It may easily be seen that these proportions willbe constant, whatever the degree of curvature ABC, so long as AB equalsBC.

In the actual construction of my device, I providetwo arms pivotedtogether, and to a supporting means at A, corresponding to A of thediagram. There is a mechanical or other interconnection between thesemembers, such that as one of the arms swings through a given arc, theother arm must swing through an are which is half as great or twice asgreat, as the case may be. That arm which moves through the greaterangle bears near its outer end a contact member C (see Fig. 8), and theother arm bears a contact member B, at a radial distance from A half asgreat as the distance of C from A. It will be clear that at one positionin the swing of the arms, the contact points A, B, and C will lie alonga straight line. At other points in their swing, the points A, B, and Cwill lie along regular curves. The points A, B, and C will lie in astraight line along the dotted. line L in Fig. 8. They will also liealong the curves which have been indicated in dotted lines at M and N.If a line is drawn from the point 0 perpendicular to the line N, it willbe seen that this perpendicular line will always be the radial line ofany regular curve along which the points A, B, and C lie. Thus if ashear blade 9 is arranged close to the point 0 and perpendicular to, theline L, it will make a radial cut in any piece of cambered materialplaced on the table and brought simultaneously into contact with thecontacting members A, B, and C.

In the exemplary construction illustrated, the shear frame I has theshear blades 8 and 9 mounted for coaction in the usual manner, so that asheet or strip fed from either table I0 or II be-* tween the blades willhave a portion sheared from it as the blade passes downward in coactionwith blade 8. A gauge constructed according to my invention is providedalong the edge of each table II] or II, and is enclosed in a casing I2,seen in, full for the left hand gauge in Figs. 8 and 9. The gauge at theright has a casing shown in section, revealing the mechanism of thegauge; and this right hand gauge will be referred to; it beingunderstood that the left hand gauge simply has its parts arrangedinversely to those of the right hand gauge. The parts of the left handgauge are numbered the same as corresponding parts of the right handgauge. It will be understood that the casings I2 are. suitable firmlymounted on the shearing machine.

Adjacent to the shear frame I, the casing has a corner opening I3; andhas projections I4 at top and bottom supporting the pivot I5 for the twoarms I6 and I1, one above the other. These arms are bent so that theirmain portions may lie within the casing I2, with end portions extendingout through the opening I 3 and. converging to the pivot I5. Theportions of the arms that surround the pivot have on their sides facingin across the table III or I I, suitable bearing means for engagementwith the edges of sheets or strips to be gauged; and the effective pointof engagement represents the point A, in Fig. 1.

It will be noted that these pivots I 5 necessarily are spaced from theline of cut of the shear blades 8 and 9; the line of out beingrepresented by the broken line K in Fi 1. This spacing, of course, is soslight that the departure from radial cut will not be appreciable.

The arm H has at its free end a finger I9, projecting in across thetable II) or I I through a slot I8 in the casing I2, and the other armI6 has a finger 20 projecting in under the arm I! and through a slot 2|in the casing I2. These fingers I9 and 20 have upright end members 23and 24 respectively, each provided with means for contacting the sheetor plate edge, like that provided at the pivot I5. The contact means onfinger I9 is twice as far from the contact means .at pivot Bil) aproposit, as is the contact means on the finger it. also the parts are soproportioned that at a certain relative position of the two arms it andii, the contact means at pivot iii, at the arm 2t and at the arm it, arealong a straight line L at right angles to the line of cut of the shearblades 8 and t. Itwill be seen that the contact means at pivot it andthe two fingers 2i and it correspond to the points A, B, and C,respectively, of the diagram of Fig. l.

'The relative positions of the two arms it and ii, illustrated in Fig. 8and their points, are those for engaging an uncambered sheet or strip tobe sheared squarely. by the shear blades, the strip having a straightedge corresponding to the line L. The means which I have hereillustrated for me suring that arm it will swing twice as far as arm ll,when either arm is-moved, comprises gear teeth on the respective arms,and gears meshing with the teeth. This may be seen clearly at the rightin Figs. 8 and 9, where arm it has an outward projection 25, with thegear teeth 25 concentric with and presented radially outwardly from thepivot it of the two arms. Similarly the arm ll has an outward projectionll, with gear teeth 28 also concentric with and facing radiallyoutwardly from the pivot ill, but along an arc of radius less than thatof the teeth 26 of the other arm it. Two spur gears 29 and 3t areconcentric and fixed together; the larger gear Sit meshing with theteeth 28 of arm ii, and the smaller gear 29 meshing with the teeth 25 ofthe arm. it. The parts are so proportioned that the gear aid is of pitchdiameter twice that of gear 29. These gears on a vertical axis, havebearings iii and 332 in the top and bottom of the casing 82, as seen inFig. 9.

By the above arrangement, if arm ll is swung, it will act through thegears and gear teeth to swing the arm. it only half as far; or ii arm itis swung it will act by the same means to swing arm openingv it in thecasing wall.

ill twice as far. ll'hus, the action will be according to the principleillustrated in Fig. l.

The projections 25 and ii have extensions til and 36, respectively, ontheir outer ends, to which springs 85 and 3%, respectively, areconnected; these springs being connected to the casing wall so asyieldingly to hold the arms it and illin toward the table it or ii Thelimit of this spring action is provided by a suitable stop, as forinstance, the arm ill engaging the edge 'tl of the This, of course,would be arranged to provide for the greatest expected degree ofcurvature of a sheet or strip edge as represented bythe line M in Fig.8, which line would be touched by all three points A, B and 0.Similarly, line N, Fig. 8, represents the greatest expected curvature inthe opposite direction.

If the operator places a sheet or strip on the table ill and pushes ittoward the three points A,

B, and C, the gauge will act, by the regulated difierence of movement ofits two arms it and ill, to establish positions of the two arms in whichtheir contacts and the contact at pivot ill will all be engaged by thecurved edge of the sheet. The operator may, for example, bring a stripagainst the point A, and swing it about this point as a pivot until thestrip edge also contacts points B and C. When this condition obtains,the shear blades are in a position to make a radial cutior reasons whichhave been explained.

It would involve considerable attention and labor on the part of theoperator to insure that all three points A, B and C were contacted bythe edge oi the sheet or strip, if he had to inspect each one oi thesepoints directly. Accordingly,

I provide electric lamps A, B. and C, prefer ebly mounted in screenedhoods it, and ill, respectively, on the top oi the casing (12, with thelights visible from the operator's position across the table from thegauge; and I provide for control of the current to the several lampsthrough the contact means, previously men= tioned, on the pivotedportions of the arms and on the upstanding end members it and lid offingers C and D.

suitable means for enabling these parts to corntrol the current areillustratedin Figs. ill and 11. These figures show one of the upstandingend members of a finger, for instance. the finger it; it beingunderstood that the sameconstruc== tion is used on themembers of bothfingers iii and it, and may be used on the pivot parts or the arms isand ii. The construction embodies a longitudinal r-slot in theupstanding member, lined with insulating material ii, and holding aT-bar d2 of electrically conductive material. The web or the bar iiiprojects, as at 33, past the face of the part 62. It is this conductiveedge portion at that represents the point B, for the finger 2t, since itis the part which actually contacts the strip edge.

The electrical connections are clearly shown in the diagram in Fig. 12,where it will be seen that each lamp A, B or C has one terminal ti l,35, or db connected through conductor ll with one terminal of a currentsource cc. the other terminal of which is grounded at tit. The otherterminals til, 5i, and iii of these lamps, are

connected to the contact bars til at A, B, and C,

respectively. The ground d9 may be a part of the machine electricallycontinuous with the table it or ii. Thus the sheet or strip may completethe circuit of any one lamp by contacting its contact bar 63 and thetable; Where the sheet or strip makes contact, the corresponding lampwill indicate the fact to the operator; and ii less than all threeindicate contact, he may move the sheet or strip accordingly until allthree contacts are established, and all three lamps are lighted.

The electric system might be simply as above described, leaving, it tothe operator to start theshearing operation after he sees all lampslighted. However, rapidity of operation is greatly increased byalsoplacing in this system the motor 53, shown only in the diagram of Fig.12, but 1111'? derstood. to be the motor that drives the shear andcauses the blades 9 and ii to shear the sheet or strip which has beenpositioned as above described. The motor 553 is shown asv a shuntwoundmotor; but it will be understood that it may be of any desired type; andit will be understood that it is supplied with current from a suitablesource, not shown, through the leads 5 3' and t5, the first of which isshown directly con nected to one terminal of the motor. The other lead55 is connected to one terminal of switch C", which is in series withthe other two-switches B" and A", to a conductor 56 connected to theother terminal of the motor 53. Electromagnets Si, 58, and it have cores@[i which move when the respective magnet is energized, to close the rethree lamps to signal a condition for shearing, 1

bill

iii?

the motor 53 will not have its circuit completed for operation unlessall three relay switches A", B", and C" are closed by the contact of thesheet or strip at all three points. When this automatic starting of themotor 53 is provided for, the three lamps have as their most importantfunction the aid of the operator, to show him which way to move thesheet or strip to effect all three contacts necessary to properlyposition the sheet or strip for shearing. If he happened to establishall three contacts at the first trial, the motor would start and theshearing would be performed without his notice of the lamps. Theoperator will, of course, locate the sheet or strip longitudinally ofthe tables for shearing the required minimum amount from the end of thesheet or strip, before he begins pressing it against the gauge. Uponshearing one end of the sheet or strip, while on table 10 and gauged bythe right hand gauge device, the operator may shift the sheet to table II, gauging it by the left hand gauge device, and

' shearing the other end of the sheet.

In the use of the shear illustrated in Figs. 8 and 9, it will frequentlybe convenient to shear simultaneously the trailing end of a first stripand the leading end of a second. When this is done, the strips arepositioned at I on each table, with their ends overlapping along theline of the shear knives 8 and 9. The strips are then cor- .rectlypositioned, each by its appropriate gauge,

and the shearing stroke is made. For an automatic operation, when thisis done, and by reference to Fig. 12, it will be understood that one ofthe leads 54 or 55 is connected to the source of power through anotherseries of relay switches corresponding to the relays A", B, and C",controlled by contacts on the other gauge corresponding to A, B, and C.Thus, before the shearing stroke is automatically initiated by the relayswitches, all of the lamps on each of the tables must be lighted,indicating that the two strips are in correct position for shearing.

It will be seen that by the use of my gauging device, the ends of thesheets or strips may be sheared in correct relationship for welding. Ifthe strips, or either of them, are without camber, the uncambered stripwill be sheared along a line perpendicular to its straight side edge. Ifeither or both of the strips are cambered, the cambered strip will be.sheared along a line radial to the curvature of the camber therein inthe part'contacted by the gauge. The current for energizing the lamps A,B, and C, etc., where the current is grounded to the table and must.pass through the strip being sheared, will be a low voltage currentpreferably, so as to make precautions against shock unnecessary.

Numerous modifications may occur in practice, and while I haveillustrated and described my invention rather specifically, I do notwish to be understood as being limited to such precise disclosure, butwhich I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:-

1. In combination in a device for operating upon strips which may have acamber, operating means, means providing a fixed location point andmeans providing movable location points, means for insuring the relativemovement of said movable location means such that when the edge of astrip contacts all of said means, said strip will bear a predeterminedrelationship to said operating means.

2. In a shear, shearing means and strip 10- cating means, said striplocating means comprising fixed means for contacting the edge of a stripand movable means for contacting the edge oi a strip, and means forinsuring relative movement of said movable means such that when the edgeof a strip is brought into contact with all of said contacting meanssimultaneously, said strip will bear a predetermined relationship tosaid shearing means.

"3. In a device for operating upon strip likely to have a camber,operating means and gauging means, said gauging means comprising meansproviding a fixed location point and means providing movable locationpoints located progressively greater distances therefrom, and means formoving said movable location points in fixed relationship proportionateto their distance from said fixed point.

4. In a device for operating upon strip likely to have a camber,operating means and gauging means, said gauging means comprising meansproviding a fixed location point and means providing movable'locationpoints located progressively greater distances therefrom, means formoving said-movable location points in fixed relationship proportionateto their distance from said fixed point, and means for indicating whenthe edge of a strip approached to said points -makes simultaneouscontact with all of them, whereby said strip may be located in arelation to said operating means determined by the curvature of the edgeof said strip.

5. In a device for operating upon strip-like 'material likely to have acamber, operating means, means providing a fixed location point, armspivoted for radial movement with respect thereto, means on said arms formaking contact with the edge of a strip, the means on said arms lying atdifferent distances from said fixed contact means, and an' operatingconnection between said arms to insure simultaneous movement of each inproportion to the distance of the contact means thereon from said fixedcontact means.

6. In a device for operating upon strip likely to have a camber,operating means and gauging means, said gauging means comprising meansproviding a fixed location point and means providing movable locationpoints located progressively greater distances therefrom, means formoving said movable location points in fixed relationship proportionateto their distance from said fixed point, means for indicating when theedge of a strip approached to said points makes simultaneous contactwith all of them, whereby said strip may be located in a relation tosaid operating means determined by the curvature of the edge of saidstrip, and automatic means for actuating said erating means when a stripedge makes simultaneous contact with all of said' contact 'means.

'7. In a device for operating upon strip-like material likely to have acamber, operating means, means providing a fixed contact point and meansproviding a plurality of movable contact points, means connected withsaid movable contact points for insuring a relative motion thereof suchthat said fixed and movable contact points will always lie in respectivepositions on a straight line embracing all of them, and on predeterminedcurves to either' side of said straight line embracing all of them.

8, In a device for operating upon strip-like material likely to have acamber, operating means, means providing a fixed contact point and meansproviding a plurality of movable contact points, means connected withsaid movable aoaaroe contact points for insuring a relative motionthereof such that saidfixed and movable contact points will always liein respective positions on a straight line embracing all of them, and onpredetermined curves to either side of said straight line embracing alloi them, means for urging said movable contact points to a prear rangedposition.

9. In a device for operating upon strip=liire --material likely to havea camber, operating means, means providing a fixed contact point andmeans providing a plurality of movable contact points, means connectedwith said movable contact points for insuring a relative motion thereofsuch that said fixed and movable contact points will always lie inrespective positions on a straight line embracing all of them and onpredetermined curves to either side of said straight line embrac ingall'oi them, means for urging said movable contact. points to aprearranged position, and

on a straight line embracing all of them and on.

predetermined curves to either side of said straight line embracing allof them, means for urging said movable contact points to a prearrangedposition, means for indicating when the edge of a strip simultaneouslycontacts all of said contacting means, said means comprising separateelectric circuits for each of said contacting means and indicating meansin said several circuits. Y

ii. In a device for operatingupon strip-dike material likely to have acamber, operating means, means providing a fixed contact point and meansproviding a plurality of movable contact points, means connected withsaid movable contact points for insuring a relative motion thereof suchthat said fixed and movable contact points will always lie in respectivepositions on a straight line embracing all of them and on predeterminedcurves to either side of said straight line embracing all of them, meansfor urging said movable contact points to a pro arranged position, andmeans for establishing an electrical circuit when a strip edge contactsall of said contacting means simultaneously and means for causing saidcircuit when established to in-- itiate the operation of said operatingmeans.

12. In a device for operating upon strip-lilre material lilrely to havea camber, operating means, means providing a fixed contact point andmeans providing a plurality of movable contact points, means connectedwith said mov= able contact points for insuring a relative motionthereof such that said fixed and movable contact points will always liein respective posttions on a straight line embracing all of them and onpredetermined curves to either side of said straight line embracing allof them, means for urging said' movable contact points to a; prearrangedposition, means for indicating when the edge of a strip simultaneouslycontacts all of said contacting means,'said means comprising separateelectric circuits for each of said contacting means and indicating meansin said several circuits, relays in the circuit of each oi 'said'indicating means, said relays being located in series in an electricalcircuit, and means for causing the establishment of said electrical circult to initiate the operation of said operating means.

13. In a shear for strip likely to have a camber, shearing means, agauge having portions to contact the edge of a strip at a plurality oipoints, and means for causing said portions to bear a relationship witheach other as to position such that a curved strip, when an edge thereofis brought into contact therewith, will be positioned in a predeterminedrelationship to said shearing means.

14. In a shear, shear knives, a shear table, a

, guiding means, said guiding means comprising means presenting a fixedlocation point and means presenting movable location points, means formoving said location points by distances having a fixed proportionalrelationship, and means for establishing an electric circuit when astrip edge is in contact with all of said location points.

unwnv arrunsoit.

